We began this blog in 2009 as a forum to discuss the ongoing Climate negotiations sponsored by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). While we serve as Official Observers of the Association of American Geographers, opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the authors and are not intended to represent the official position of the Association of American Geographers or of its membership.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Hitting home...

Since I have been in Cancún at the COP meeting, I have heard numerous stories from ministers and delegates alike about the climate changes that nations are suffering. Two days ago on the bus I met a delegate from Gambia (see Mike's post earlier) and heard about how their rainy season decreased by four months over the past 10 years. Yesterday I listened in horror as the Prime Minister of Palau told of rising tides, bleached corals, and decreased fish stocks. Just now I received an email from one of my colleagues from Colombia pleading for her fellow graduate students to send aid to her country in response to the intense rains that her country has received, leaving more than 1.7 million Colombianos affected. To me, this brings it all home. Climate change is happening. For those that don't believe... well... you just have done your research, you haven't listened to the stories, and you haven't looked at that manic thermometer in your back yard. We need a solution now. We have negotiated long enough; unfortunately, climate change is non-negotiable.